It wasn't until we got Jack a year later, that I realized what I suspected. Molly simply wanted to do things her way when she wanted.

It wasn't that she didn't "get it". She did. She only did it when "she" wanted to. Ah yes, the spunkiness of the terrier shines through. On the other hand though, we got Jack a year after Molly and he was completely house broke within a few weeks. Mostly because Jack responded well to praise and Munchkin talk (aka high pitched baby talk) where Molly acted like she didn't care how much I praised her or what kind of treats I pulled out of my bag. Sometimes she acted as if the Munchkin talk was beneath her. Another reason I believe that Jack was easier was because he had another dog as a mentor. It may seem like a silly notion, but puppies absorb everything that goes on around them. They are so impressionable and having another adult dog around certainly helps them learn good things faster. It can also have the opposite effect; they can learn bad habits faster too. Between my extra-abundant praise and watching Molly "get busy", he was trained in no time.

As I write this Molly is currently 2 years and 3 months old. It was only 5 months ago though that I left for a business trip out of the country and my husband's sister let the dogs out for potty breaks during the day while my husband was at work. Molly took this time to let us know she wasn't happy about the situation and blatantly squatted and peed on the carpet because she didn't want to be put back into her crate. Ah yes, the terrier spunkiness can rear its ugly side on occasion.

I had a difficult time with her when she was a puppy. We went outside for “just in case breaks” dozens of time per day, and nothing the dog training and housebreaking books I bought said would work came close to helping. She simply didn't care about praise or treats. She was more interested in having fun, of course, and even as a puppy being alpha dog was important to her.